Looking for recommendations on a new car

I currently drive a 2016 ford fiesta titanium, great car, got it 4 years ago, I drive about 500 miles a week commuting so its now at 142k miles

Looking to get a newer car, love ford's but thinking of getting an automatic diesel so commutes are more comfortable. Been looking at ford focus's and needs cruise control as I'm on the motorway for 95% of my commute.

Not wanting electric as nowhere to charge at home, in a flat so can't just run a cable. Charging at work isn't always guaranteed so risking not being able to get back to work the next day or make it home (already spending 2 hours a day travelling not wanting to add more time to that just to charge)

Budget is about £15k (ill probably get a bank loan to have better interest rates on it)

My car still owes a bit more than what its worth but ill pay the difference when the time for trading in comes (not in a rush currently looking is all)

Seen a few ford focus's on Auto trader that ate 2020/2021/2022 plates around 40k miles.

With the automatic cars is there anything I should be aware of that are typical failure points?

Anything else I should be aware of or do some extra research on.

Thanks in advance

Edited March 26Mar 26 by mccluregamer
Added extra detail, about not looking for electric and why

On 3/26/2026 at 10:25 PM, mccluregamer said:

With the automatic cars is there anything I should be aware of that are typical failure points?

The gearbox. 😕 Seriously though, Mk4's use an 8-speed torque converter gearbox. It has proven to be more reliable than the older Powershifts, however owners have suggested that it's not the quickest or smoothest gearbox on the market. We have seen a few faults with them on here so not totally reliable either.

2020-2022 is a strange build time due to covid and supply issues. That includes both facelift and pre-facelift. And many different trim levels, including short term run-out and reduced spec facelifts. Too many different options here to list them all.

You'll struggle to find a Mk4 without cruise control though, so if that's the main criteria then that's an easy one. However...you may prefer adaptive cruise control, especially with an automatic gearbox, as that not only adjusts speed on the motorway accoriding to traffic, it will also stop and go in town without you pressing any pedals as well. That is a rare optional extra and was part of the Driver Assistance pack.

ST-Line is fairly basic and has firm sports suspension so I would avoid those for commuting personally. Titanium gets things like climate control and auto wipers, as well as comfort suspension. Titanium X or ST-Line X add a few more luxury items to each of the above. Vignale is the flagship luxury model, which was my preference. A lot of Mk4's come with manky yellow halogen headlights, higher trims came with fixed LEDs or adaptive LEDs, which I would recommend over halogens. The main difference between facelift and pre-facelift is the infotainment system. PFL's came with Sync 3. Facelifts came with Sync 4 which has a much larger touchscreen which some prefer, I don't personally. Some facelifts came with the smaller screen due to supply issues.

The diesel engine options are 1.5 EcoBlue or 2.0 EcoBlue. 1.5 EcoBlue uses a dry cambelt but has a chain between the twin cams which is a fairly common fail point. It was upgraded for a stronger chain around the end of 2022, and can be retrofitted to older models for peace of mind. The 2.0 EcoBlue uses 2x wetbelts, which have proven unreliable on Transits and Rangers, but seem more reliable on cars so far, we don't know why this is as the engine is the same. We would still recommend wetbelt replacement around 80k miles or 8 years, so with your mileage that will need to be considered.

Pretty comprehensive reply from Tom, as usual.

Might be worth mentioning 12v battery issues - several threads on this eg:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/144919-focus-mk4mk45-battery-issue-petition/

Always a good idea to see what else is available - our local taxi drivers have defected en masse to Toyota hybrids for example. Some have done huge mileages up to 350,000 miles.

How long the current and still widening price gap between petrol and diesel will continue is anyone's guess, but it's another factor to consider.

On 3/28/2026 at 9:34 AM, TomsFocus said:

The gearbox. 😕 Seriously though, Mk4's use an 8-speed torque converter gearbox. It has proven to be more reliable than the older Powershifts, however owners have suggested that it's not the quickest or smoothest gearbox on the market. We have seen a few faults with them on here so not totally reliable either.

2020-2022 is a strange build time due to covid and supply issues. That includes both facelift and pre-facelift. And many different trim levels, including short term run-out and reduced spec facelifts. Too many different options here to list them all.

You'll struggle to find a Mk4 without cruise control though, so if that's the main criteria then that's an easy one. However...you may prefer adaptive cruise control, especially with an automatic gearbox, as that not only adjusts speed on the motorway accoriding to traffic, it will also stop and go in town without you pressing any pedals as well. That is a rare optional extra and was part of the Driver Assistance pack.

ST-Line is fairly basic and has firm sports suspension so I would avoid those for commuting personally. Titanium gets things like climate control and auto wipers, as well as comfort suspension. Titanium X or ST-Line X add a few more luxury items to each of the above. Vignale is the flagship luxury model, which was my preference. A lot of Mk4's come with manky yellow halogen headlights, higher trims came with fixed LEDs or adaptive LEDs, which I would recommend over halogens. The main difference between facelift and pre-facelift is the infotainment system. PFL's came with Sync 3. Facelifts came with Sync 4 which has a much larger touchscreen which some prefer, I don't personally. Some facelifts came with the smaller screen due to supply issues.

The diesel engine options are 1.5 EcoBlue or 2.0 EcoBlue. 1.5 EcoBlue uses a dry cambelt but has a chain between the twin cams which is a fairly common fail point. It was upgraded for a stronger chain around the end of 2022, and can be retrofitted to older models for peace of mind. The 2.0 EcoBlue uses 2x wetbelts, which have proven unreliable on Transits and Rangers, but seem more reliable on cars so far, we don't know why this is as the engine is the same. We would still recommend wetbelt replacement around 80k miles or 8 years, so with your mileage that will need to be considered.

Thank you for the response thats really helpful!

If the auto's arent the quickest thats fine. Ill do some more digging and research so I have a better idea.

So thats why there's so many differences when I try to compare them. That makes sense, this makes it a little easier to understand the differences. Thank you

Thats good that it's a high chance if having cruise control, never used acc which may be a nice upgrade lol.

The screen size I'm not too bothered about as either one will be bigger than my phone for maps anyways, ill probably look to get a titanium X, ST-Line X or vignale from your description those sound like the more ideal options.

With the engine that's good to know the differences. If the chain was to break or the belt was to snap would that cause damage i assume? If I got the 1.5L ill probably look to get the chain replaced to have the peace of mind.

On 3/28/2026 at 10:55 AM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Pretty comprehensive reply from Tom, as usual.

Might be worth mentioning 12v battery issues - several threads on this eg:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/144919-focus-mk4mk45-battery-issue-petition/

Always a good idea to see what else is available - our local taxi drivers have defected en masse to Toyota hybrids for example. Some have done huge mileages up to 350,000 miles.

How long the current and still widening price gap between petrol and diesel will continue is anyone's guess, but it's another factor to consider.

Ill deep dive into this aswell haha.

I have also been looking at other cars, Ford's have been good to me so far haha. But obviously if someone is better for the same price or less then its a no brainer.

1 hour ago, mccluregamer said:

If the chain was to break or the belt was to snap would that cause damage i assume?

Yes, catastrophic damage in both cases. Pistons hitting valves. They are repairable but at great expense. Replacing the wetbelts on 2.0 or dry belt & chain on 1.5 for routine maintenance/peace of mind are also expensive though.

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes, catastrophic damage in both cases. Pistons hitting valves. They are repairable but at great expense. Replacing the wetbelts on 2.0 or dry belt & chain on 1.5 for routine maintenance/peace of mind are also expensive though.

Damn, had a look at average cost and yeah that is expensive. With the mileage I do I get the car checks typically every 4 months at minimum so mot and service snd 2 other services throughout the year. So hopefully would be able to catch it before it becomes a big issue

Applying for other jobs in the same company thats 50% ish at home which will save 200 to 300 miles a week. So hopefully those interviews go well and changes what I go for.

Looking at other cars too just to see what other good options there are